St. Petersburg • Clearwater 2008 - (Page 49) : TRAVEL TIPS Take Laura’s advice on maximizing your artistic and cultural explorations in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area: • Plug into the art scene with Art in Your Ear, airing on radio station WMNF 88.5 FM from 1 to 2 p.m. on Fridays. • Call before you go. At the time of this writing, many St. Petersburg-area cultural venues are planning moves to new homes in the downtown area – American Stage and The Arts Center among them. • Note for foodies: If you want to indulge yourself with a lobster meal, know that 3 6 54 2 1 St. Petersburg Florida lobster is, in fact, the Spiny Crawfish. It’s delicious, but tastes very different than the Maine variety. Find out which kind the restaurant is serving before you order. rt Gulfport Casino. Lake Maggiore : MAP IT Gulf of Mexico Clearwater Beach Clearwater Sand Key Lak e Tar pon Visit here for everything from tea dances to rock concerts. Rounding out the troika is the State Theater on Central Avenue. Dating from 1924, it serves up an outstanding Beaux Arts façade. More important to the music lover – you can listen to everything from jazz to punk, rock to ska there. Just west of downtown and about a 15-minute drive is the arts community of Gulfport, which sports its own performance space: the Gulfport Casino and Ballroom. Take swing lessons and go swing dancing, listen to country music and comedians, and, if you’re fox trot’s just slightly off, take ballroom dancing lessons. Music festivals abound. Perhaps the most significant of these is the Clearwater Jazz Holiday. Every October, this free shindig offers four days of jazz, performed by regional musicians and national headliners. Find more information about arts and culture venues starting on page 62 of this guide, or visit www.FloridasBeach.com for map tours and features. Old Tampa Bay 4 Florida Holocaust Museum 1 Museum of Fine Arts 5 Florida Craftsmen Gallery 2 Salvador Dalí Museum 3 Florida International Museum 6 The Arts Center FIND it on the interactive map at www.FloridasBeach.com : CUISINE CULTURE Looking for fine food, artfully presented? These restaurants offer art on the plate or on the walls: Hey Big Spender Consider the Black Pearl in Dunedin. Enjoy the sophisticated Art Deco décor of this 38-seat restaurant, and feast on entrées such as twice cooked Long Island duckling or shrimp and roasted red pepper scampi. 727-734-3463 In St. Petersburg, you’ll enjoy Château France. Soak up the atmosphere of the 1901 Victorian building as you dine by candlelight. Try the coq au vin paired with a vintage from the extensive French wine list. If you order the flaming Crêpes Suzette, you’ll see them prepared tableside. 727-894-7163 Oh-so-moderate Of course, no actual artist could afford either of these places. If you want to encounter the next great American artist, try St. Petersburg’s Globe Coffee Lounge. It hosts art shows, and serves inexpensive foods such as Portobello mushroom wraps. There’s a Starving Artists Supper on Monday night – the meal itself varies from week to week. Java, beer and wine are all available. 727-898-5282 www. F loridas Beach. com 49 http://www.FloridasBeach.com http://www.FloridasBeach.com http://www.FloridasBeach.com
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